


The Odd One Out

by HexManiacHana



Category: X JAPAN
Genre: First Person, Gen, I'm just writing this for fun, Supernatural Elements, The author is the main character, comedy with some drama later on, please excuse any weirdness, weird dimensional portals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2018-08-27
Packaged: 2019-02-23 10:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13187751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HexManiacHana/pseuds/HexManiacHana
Summary: After being dragged back in time to the early 90s to see X Japan live, everything seemed to be going well. But a misplaced musical score kicks off a series of events that causes tension to build between myself and Yoshiki. And it makes me realize that, around these guys, I really am the odd one out.* Takes place in late 1993, leading up to the X Japan Returns concert. Current day at the beginning and end of the story.* Hide is capitalized for ease of reading.





	1. The Madness Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I got the original idea for this fic after watching the PV for 'Celebration'. But it evolved into something bigger as I kept brainstorming. I hope it isn't too weird.

It had been a rough day at work. Dealing with an irritating co worker and multiple irate patrons had worn me down and I was running on fumes by the time I got off at around five that Saturday. So, when I got home, I got myself some water, kicked off my shoes and flopped on the couch. I left my phone on the kitchen counter to charge, so I turned on the tv and flipped it over to YouTube. I was home alone for a couple of hours, so I could watch whatever I wanted. I searched for an old X Japan concert and pushed play when I found one.

I love these guys. X Japan is one of the most amazing bands I've ever heard of. Their music has really helped me get through a couple of rough patches in the recent months. In a way, the guys are kinda like my heroes.

So I sat and watched the old concert footage, bobbing my head to the music, singing along and laughing at the guy's onstage shenanigans. It was fun to watch, but part of me wished that I could've actually been there to see them live. But, I knew that it would never happen. Two members, Hide and Taiji, had long since passed away. Honestly, it made me bemoan the fact that I was born in ‘94 and not earlier. All I could do now was daydream about it.

The video was almost two hours long, and I started dozing off sometime around the halfway point. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard a buzzing noise. I opened my eyes and looked around for a moment to see where it might be coming from. Thinking it might have been a bug or something, I shrugged and closed my eyes again. About two minutes later I heard the sound again. This time I recognized it as tv static, which didn’t make a whole lot of sense. This was a relatively new tv, and the only time there was static was when the cable box would be unplugged. Now I knew that the cable box hadn’t been unplugged, so the presence of static really confused me. So this time I watched it closely; I was going to get to the bottom of this. 

The tv buzzed with static again, and I could make out the faint outline of a person within. I squinted in a vain attempt to make out the figure in the static, when, suddenly, a bright flash of light emanated from the screen. I covered my eyes to keep from being blinded and I fell off the couch as a result. When I opened my eyes again, I saw a person standing in front of the tv. The figure was blurry, most likely due to the combination of bright light and me not wearing my glasses. When I put them on and the image became clearer, I jumped back in complete and utter shock. 

Standing before me, red hair and all, was Hide. That’s right. Hideto Matsumoto was standing in my living room. Right in front of me.

I was shocked and more than a little confused by what had just happened. All I could really do at that moment was stare; wide-eyed and mouth agape. There were so many questions running through my mind at that moment, but the most prominent one was, “What the hell is Hide doing here?! This doesn’t make any sense!”

Hide just smiled and laughed a bit.

“Surprised?” he asked.

I was indeed surprised, but now moreso due to the fact that I could actually understand what he said. 

I just nodded my head, still staring.

Hide laughed again.

“Well you can stop starin’. You look like you've seen a ghost or something.” he said.

Little did he know that what he said was true. I was pretty much staring at what could be considered a ghost.

I shook my head to get my thoughts back on track.

“Uh…S-Sorry. I just wasn't expecting you to, ya know, come out of the fucking tv.” I replied.

Hide shrugged.

“I thought I'd surprise you.”

Well, mission accomplished. I was thoroughly surprised.

“So…is there any particular reason why you're here…Hide?” I asked. Saying that felt incredibly weird. The very fact that I was speaking directly to Hide (who, may I remind you, had been dead for almost twenty years at this point) was absurd. I was honestly hoping that I was dreaming and not delusional. 

“You said you wanted to see X live, right?”

Ok, how in the hell did he know that? I was about to ask that very question, but I decided against it. I figured the answer would just cause more confusion.

“Yeah, I did. What about it?”

The smile on his face grew wider.

“I’m gonna take you there!”

I looked at him like he was crazy. How was he going to take me to one their live shows? Was he gonna drag me through the tv?

“And just how do you plan to do that?” I asked.

Hide didn’t answer me right away. Instead, he silently held his hand out to me. I assumed he wanted me to take it, so I did and he helped me off the floor.

“I think it’d be better if I showed you; I don’t think I’d be able to explain it.”

“If you say so. Honestly, I don't think today can get any weirder.”

I probably shouldn't have said that. Things could always get weirder.

Hide and I just stared at each other for a minute in silence. I was starting to wonder if we were going or not; nothing was happening.

“So…are we going or not?” I asked.

“Yeah. I'm just waiting on you.”

“Why are you waiting on me?”

“You need to pack.”

“Why?”

“The show’s in three days.”

Seriously? Three days? I wasn't expecting to wait that long.   
I sighed and shuffled off to my room to pack clothes for the next three days. At least he had the decency to give me the opportunity to do so. Once I had finished packing, I went back to the living room where Hide was waiting for me.

“Ready?” he asked, still grinning.

I nodded. I was as ready I was ever going to be.

Hide took my hand again and we both turned to face the tv screen.

“Alright; here we go. Hold on tight!”

I don't remember much after that, except another bright flash of light. The next thing I knew, I was face down on a hard floor and my glasses had gone missing. 

“Aw man…” I mumbled to myself as I searched around for them. Everything looked blurry and I was still seeing spots from the light. I was hoping that I didn’t lose them.

“Looking for these?”

I had to squint to see what was in front of me clearly, but someone was holding my classes out to me.

“Thanks.” I said

I put my glasses back on as I got back on my feet, making a mental note to try and stay upright and not fall again. 

I took a good look at my surroundings; the room we were standing in was full of music equipment. There were guitars, a few amps, speakers, a couple of sound mixers, microphones, a piano, and a drum set. Must've been in the studio.

“So, where are we exactly?” I asked Hide.

Hide propped his arm on my shoulder and leaned on me, using my shoulder as a support. It took everything in my power to not step to the side and let him fall.

“You, my friend, are backstage at the Tokyo Dome.” he replied.

It took me a moment to fully process what I had just been told. We were at the Tokyo Dome. THE Tokyo Dome. If I was dreaming, then I didn't want to wake up.

I must've had a stupid look on my face, because Hide started laughing. 

“Guess you weren't expecting to end up here, huh?”

I shook my head. Never in my life did I ever think that I would be at the Tokyo Dome; or backstage at the Tokyo Dome, for that matter. 

Hide patted me on the shoulder and sat down in one of the folding chairs and he motioned for me to do the same.

“Have a seat. The guys should be back from their smoke break soon.”

I sat in the folding chair beside me and I waited quietly for the rest of the band to return. Then the scent of tobacco hit my nose. I looked over at Hide, who, as I expected, had lit a cigarette and was smoking it. 

Lovely.

I covered my nose to filter out the smell. I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke, but I knew Hide probably wouldn't stop if I asked. So I had to deal with it as best I could. 

It was another ten minutes before the door opened. I jumped at the sudden sound, but somehow managed to not fall out of the chair. Two people came in and Hide greeted them both. 

Turns out that it was Pata and Heath who had walked in. They were talking with Hide and hadn't noticed me at all until I shifted in my chair. The metallic noise got Pata’s attention and he looked in my direction. We just…stared at each other for a minute before he turned back to Hide.

“Hey, Hide, who's this?” he asked, pointing towards me, “Friend of yours?”

“Oh! Yeah, she is!” 

Hide got up out of his chair and decided to stand beside me. He put his hand on my shoulder again, but didn’t say anything this time.

There was another brief silence before Hide nudged me. I shot him a dirty look; I didn’t really appreciate being nudged like that.

“What?”

“Aren’t you going to introduce yourself?”

I had been waiting on him to introduce me to them. That’s why I hadn’t spoken up. Turns out my assumption was wrong and he was expecting me to introduce myself.

I sighed as I got out of my chair, coming to the realization that Hide didn’t know my name either. He hadn’t asked and I just realized that. I had only been here for ten minutes and I was already getting agitated. But I couldn’t let them know that; I had to be polite.

“I’m Hanna; it’s nice to meet you.” I said, bowing.

Pata and Heath did the same and introduced themselves as well. They were nice, which, honestly, made me feel a little less nervous.

Then Heath turned to Hide and asked, “You don’t think Yoshiki will get upset when he sees her here, do you?”

There was a brief pause.

“Yeah...he might. I’ll try and explain it to him when he gets back.” Hide replied.

Well now I felt bad. I didn’t want Hide to get in trouble for bringing me here. I had to think of a solution.

“If me being here is gonna cause a problem, then I can sit in the hall. I don’t mind.”

Hide shook his head.

“No, you don’t have to do that. I’ll figure something out; don’t worry.”

Yeah, that didn't really help. Telling me not to worry was not the wisest thing to do.

“Well, you better figure something out quick. ‘Cause I can hear him and Toshi coming.” Pata added.

Aaaaand I was nervous again. If I was planning on sitting out in the hall, it was too late now. Hide needed to come up with something fast. 

As soon as the doorknob turned, I hid behind Pata and Hide. I wasn't sure if I was hidden very well since both of them were around the same height as me. 

Toshi and Yoshiki walked in and I ducked behind Hide as fast as I could. I watched from a gap between him and Pata; neither Yoshiki nor Toshi seemed to notice I was there. Or so I thought, until Yoshiki stopped talking with the others and looked straight towards Hide. His dark eyes were focused on something, and I had a feeling that I knew what it was.

“Hide…”

My heart started began to race. He knew I was there. I don't know how, but he knew.

“Who's that behind you?”


	2. Off to a Good Start

“Hide, who's that behind you?”

I felt my heart momentarily stop when he spoke. Forget being nervous, I was straight-up terrified. I didn't want to move; or breathe. But I knew that I had to show myself sooner or later; and I had a feeling that sooner would be better.

I poked my head out from behind Hide, visibly terrified I'm sure, and I waved shyly.

“H-Hi…” I muttered.

Yoshiki raised an eyebrow at me, then turned his attention to Hide. 

“Friend of yours?” he asked.

Hide nodded and moved to the right so Yoshiki could see me.

“Yeah. This is Hanna; she's a fan of ours from the States.” he replied.

Yoshiki raised both eyebrows in surprise and Toshi came over to investigate; the phrase ‘fan from the States’ seemed to grab his attention.

“She's from the States? Really?” Toshi asked.

They seemed pretty excited to have an overseas fan here. Then I remembered that they were trying to branch out to the western music scene at this time. Guess they were happy to hear that their music had reached the States.

“Y-Yeah, a friend I went to college with introduced me to your music. I've been hooked ever since.” I stated. 

That...wasn’t entirely true. Actually, one of my co-workers introduced me to their music. But I had to make my story sound as convincing as possible. Hopefully, it would work.

“So, how did you get in contact with Hide then?” Yoshiki asked.

Shit. I was hoping that he wouldn't ask me that. That was a question that I didn't have an answer for. I wished that I had some time to come up with something that made sense, or that Hide would come up with something to save my ass.

Lucky for me, Hide was a quick thinker and had come up with a believable story.

“She sent a letter to me last year, and we’ve been writing back and forth for a while.”

I relaxed a little bit. His story sounded convincing enough to me, but now we had to gauge the other’s reactions. 

“You invited her here?”

“Yep; paid for her plane ticket and everything.”

Well, he didn’t need to go that far. But I appreciated it anyway; he was trying to help.

Then, Yoshiki pulled Hide aside for a minute to speak with him one-on-one. They both kept their voices low, but I could kind of make out what they were saying. From what I could make out, Yoshiki was questioning Hide about his reasons for bringing me here. Hide mentioned the live and how I wanted to go, but couldn’t due to location and travel. He also mentioned that he had purchased a ticket for me as well; a floor seat ticket at that. Yoshiki seemed a bit irritated, and that made me feel bad for intruding.

When I was sure that no one was paying any attention to me, I started inching my way towards the door. I was almost out the door- I had my hand on the doorknob and was about to open it- when Toshi just so happened to look my way. 

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I grinned sheepishly.

“Y’all have to get back to rehearsal. I don’t want to intrude or anything.” I replied.

“I told you that you didn’t have to wait in the hall.” Hide called.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“I’m just trying to be polite.”

I really was. I didn't want to intrude on their rehearsal; they had a big show coming up! I really didn't want to be a nuisance.

“You can stay if you want. I'm fine with it, as long as you don't tamper with any of the equipment.” Yoshiki stated.

Toshi, Pata, Heath and I all looked at Yoshiki like mhe had lost his mind. Hell, even I knew that this was out of character for him. Guess Hide convinced him to let me stay. 

“Are you sure? If you don't want me hangin’ around, I can sit in the hall or something.”

Yoshiki shook his head.

“No, it's fine. Like I said, as long as you don't tamper with any of the equipment, I'm fine with you staying.”

Well, that was unexpected, and I wasn't really sure how to respond. But I said thank you and shook his hand. 

As they made their way to the main stage for rehearsal, I wandered around for a bit to find a place to sit in the stadium. I managed to find a pretty good seat, but it was a damn hike getting there and I was out of breath. But it did feel nice to be out in the open air. I didn’t say anything earlier, but that room reeked of tobacco. All five of them must have been smoking in that room at some point during the day. It’s a miracle that I didn’t start coughing and wheezing.

The hours passed by quickly, and, before I knew it, it had already gotten dark outside. It was a little after nine-thirty when Hide shouted at me from the stage, letting me know that they were packing up for the night. I picked up my backpack and headed backstage to meet back up with them. Hide waved me down and I trotted over to him.

“Why are you guys packing up so early?” I asked.

Yoshiki answered first.

“The people who own the stadium want us out before curfew. Anyone under eighteen can’t be on the streets after a certain time. That doesn’t apply to us, since we’re all adults, but they want us out before ten-thirty.” he answered.

He glanced at me, and when I noticed it I rolled my eyes.

“Relax; curfew doesn't apply to me either. I'm twenty-three.” I stated.

He chuckled.

“I was about to ask. You look younger.”

“Well…thanks.”

I accepted it as a compliment. I just didn't know how to go about responding.

Once the room where the equipment was stored had been locked, we all started making our way to a bar that they frequented. One of the few in Tokyo that actually allowed them in. 

I kept telling Hide that I didn't drink, but he kept insisting that I join them. I relented, but I made it clear that I was staying sober. At least one of us had to keep their wits about us. 

So I sat there, watching the guys laugh and have a good time while I snacked on some grilled chicken skewers. 

It was fun hanging out with them. I had to enjoy every minute I spent with them, because I knew that this was the only chance I would get. Knowing what would happen in the future made it all kind of bittersweet.

As it got later, I started to doze off. I had been at work all day back in my time and I had spent the last few hours in an uncomfortable stadium seat; I was exhausted. I almost fell asleep at the table, but someone elbowed me in the side and woke me back up. 

“Hey, let's call it a night, guys. It's almost one in the morning.” 

“Yeah. I've got a meeting at the studio at eight; I need some rest.”

Hide was the first to stand up.

“Guess we'll see you guys at the dome tomorrow. C’mon Hanna, we're heading home.” he said.

I raised an eyebrow at his statement, a little confused.

“Home?” I asked.

“Yeah. I offered to let you stay at my place while you're here. Remember?”

Just play along. Make it convincing.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot. Sorry…”

We said our goodbyes and parted ways with the rest of the group and Hide and I started making our way to his place. I didn’t realize that it would be as cold as it was, and I had half of my face buried in my hoodie. Hide laughed.

“Guess I should’ve told ya to bring a coat.”

I glared at him, but didn't speak. I was tired and cold; I wasn't in the mood for jokes at the moment.

\----

When we finally arrived at Hide's apartment, I thanked God that the heat was on in the building. I didn't want to be out in the cold any more than I needed to be. 

“Just leave your shoes by the door.” he said as he unlocked the door. 

Once we were inside, I kicked my shoes off by the door and just stood there while Hide started turning on the lights. His apartment was nice; it wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to house his guitars and other equipment. 

I made my way over to the couch and sat down on the end closest to the wall, setting my bag on the floor beside my feet. 

“You okay with sleeping on the couch?” he asked, turning down the short hallway.

“Yeah, I'm cool with it.” I answered.

A few minutes passed and Hide emerged from the hallway with a couple of pillows and blankets. He chucked the pillows at me; I caught one, but the other hit me in the face. 

“Thanks…”

He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge before flopping down on the other end of the couch.

“Really? More alcohol?”

“What about it?”

“You drank, like, ten of them at the bar. Don't you think that was enough?”

He shrugged, not giving me a verbal answer. I sighed; I knew I wasn't going to make any headway on that argument. So I didn't try. There didn't seem to be any point.

Instead, I got up and went looking for the bathroom, bringing my bag with me. Once I found it, I changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that I had packed and put my hoodie back on before I went back out. 

I nearly bumped into Hide when I stepped out of the bathroom. 

“Going to bed?”

“Yeah. Gotta get up at around nine. We're supposed to be at the dome at eleven.”

“Well, alright. Good night then.”

“G’night.”

Before I stepped back into the living room, Hide called out to me from the hallway.

“You can turn the tv on if you want. Just keep the volume down; the remote’s on the couch.”

“Okay.”

I put the pillows next to the arm of the couch and I stretched out. I pulled the blanket over my legs and got comfortable, turning the tv on right after. I flipped through the channels before settling on a late night talk show; that was the only thing that I found interesting at that time. It was late; there wasn't much on.

It didn't take long for me to start dozing off. My eyes were heavy and I couldn't keep them open much longer. So I shut my eyes and fell asleep soon after. 

Hopefully tomorrow would be good. Just like today.


	3. Tension Building

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic isn’t dead! I’ve just had a lack of motivation that lasted almost a year.  
> Anyway, enjoy!

“Hanna… Hey, Hanna, it’s time to get up. C’mon.”

I wrenched my arm away from the offending hand shaking me and I pulled a pillow over my head, muttering something in the vein of “fuck off”. There was no way that I was getting up now. It was my day off; I wanted to sleep as much as possible. 

But Hide was having none of that. He yanked the pillow out of my hand and proceeded to smack me in the head with it. Repeatedly. 

“Alright, I’m up! I’m up!”

I sat up and started fumbling for my glasses and when I could see clearly again I stared at Hide for a moment. Apparently what happened the night before hadn't been a dream. 

Well, shit.

Hide didn’t seem to notice that I was staring and he threw the pillow back to me.

“Come on. We need to get going.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just give me a few minutes.” 

I got up and hauled myself and my bag off to the bathroom to get ready. I came back wearing a pair of jeans, a pink t-shirt and the black hoodie with the band’s logo on the back. 

“Alright, let’s go.” I said.

The two of us headed out of the apartment block and onto the main street and started making our way towards the venue. We had some extra time, so Hide ran into a convenience store and bought snacks for the both of us.

As we were walking, I couldn’t help but notice something odd. Well, something I found odd. No one that passed us on the street approached Hide at all. I got a couple of looks, but no one paid him any mind. You’d think they’d notice him, what with the red hair and all.

After about twenty minutes, I brought the subject up.

“Ok, this has been bothering me for the past twenty minutes, but, how are you not being swarmed by fans?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

He seemed a little confused.

“Well, where I’m from, a celebrity walking around without a bodyguard of some kind would get swarmed by fans and paparazzi. We’ve been walking by ourselves for the past twenty minutes and you ran into a convenience store; nothing’s happened.” I explained.

Hide shrugged.

“Guess they don’t want to cause a scene. But, I don’t think anyone recognizes me without the makeup.” he said.

I had my doubts about that. With the red hair and all, he stood out as much as I did. Then again...there were quite a few musicians who had dyed their hair red over here (Sugizo comes to mind pretty quick). Still, it didn’t make much sense to me. At least one person should have recognized him. If they did, then they were probably wondering why he was hanging out with a foreigner like me. 

Way to make me feel self-conscious. 

“Maybe they don’t want to come near you because I’m here.” I mumbled.

“Hm?”

“I’m a foreigner. I’m pretty sure most people around here don’t wanna be around me.”

Just as I said that, I was shoved by someone in the crowd and almost dropped the soda I had been drinking. Hide turned and started yelling at the guy that shoved me, but I nudged his arm and shook my head.

“Don’t. It ain’t worth it” I said.

He huffed and we continued walking. But that did seem to get my point across. He stuck closer to me as we crossed through busy intersections and crowded streets. Although, now that I think about it, he probably didn’t want to lose me in that crowd. Tokyo’s a really crowded city, especially in the morning.

+++++

I hadn’t realized that the walk from Hide’s place to Tokyo Dome would be as long as it was. By the time we got there, I was out of breath and wheezing.

Hide shot me a concerned look as I leaned against the wall, trying to catch my breath.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

I nodded and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Yeah, I’m good. I’m just...a little out of breath.” I replied.

“Do you need some water?”

I nodded wordlessly.

He dashed off in the opposite direction, leaving me by myself, and came back a few minutes later with a bottle of water. After another couple of minutes we started walking towards the stage area. I could already hear someone practicing; I think it was Heath tuning his bass. I hung back as Hide went onto the stage. I knew that I probably wouldn’t be allowed up there; I was just a visitor.

He stopped halfway up and looked back at me, confused as to why I wasn’t following him.

“You’re not coming?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Can’t. I’m not authorized.” I answered.

He shrugged.

“We’re just fucking around until Yoshiki gets here. You’ll be fine.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. I wasn’t convinced.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna get my head bit off because I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.”

“Trust me, you’ll be fine. If someone starts bothering you, I’ll take care of it.”

I sighed. There really wasn’t much use arguing with him; I wasn’t going to win. So why bother?

I followed him up the stairs and onto the stage area. Pata, Heath and Toshi had already arrived, so Yoshiki was the only one yet to show up. He was probably still at his meeting.

“Hey, you brought your friend with you today.” Toshi said, grinning at both of us.

I smiled back and waved.

“Well, yeah. I wasn’t just going to leave her by herself with nothing to do.” Hide replied.

“Could’ve taken her sightseeing or something.” Pata muttered.

“You know Yoshiki would throw a bitch fit if I didn’t show up for practice. Especially before a big live like this one. Not risking it.” Hide answered.

It took everything in me to not laugh. It wasn’t because Yoshiki would get upset if Hide was a no show, but the way Hide phrased his sentence was hilarious.

“Not risking what?”

Everyone shut up immediately when Yoshiki stepped onto the stage. It was obvious that his question was rhetorical, so nobody answered him.

He shot Hide a sour look then he turned his attention to me. We just kinda...stared at each other for a minute. It was really awkward, to say the least. I waved and smiled kind of awkwardly; I was still a little nervous around him. 

“Umm...hi.”

Even with the sunglasses on, I could tell that he was staring me down. It wasn’t an angry stare, more like a ‘what are you doing here?’ kind of look. Still, it made me a little uncomfortable.

“So, Hide let you tag along?” he asked.

“Uh, ye-yeah, he did. I can go sit in the stands if you don’t want me up here. I don’t wanna be in the way.” I replied.

Yoshiki shook his head.

“No, no, it’s fine. Just as long as you don’t mess with any of the equipment or hardware.” he said.

For some reason, he felt the need to repeat what he had told me the night before. But I just assumed that he had forgotten.

“Not a problem.” 

So, rehearsal began and I found a chair to sit in so I could hang back and watch. It was an amazing, once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to sit there and watch them rehearse for, in my opinion, one of their best concerts. And so candidly too! They laughed and joked around with each other quite a bit. It made me see them in a whole new light. 

Before I knew it, it was already afternoon and they were breaking for lunch. Hide set his guitar down and waved me over. He told me that he was going to a nearby ramen joint with Heath and he wanted to know if I wanted to go too; he had asked Pata too, but Pata declined. I think he said something about an allergy of some sort, but I was too far away to hear exactly what he said. 

The three of us talked the entire time we were out. I don’t think we stopped talking for more than a couple of minutes. We had a lot of fun. But, sadly, the fun would end once we returned to the venue.

Hide and Heath knew that something was wrong the moment we walked through the door. There was no noise coming from the stage; it was quiet. 

“Oh no…” Heath muttered.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Hide sighed.

“Yocchan’s pissed about something. Again.” he replied.

“How can you tell?” I asked.

Heath answered, “It’s too quiet here. He’s waiting for someone and letting his anger stew.”

“Yeah, and when that person shows up, they’re in for it. Yocchan can be dangerous when he’s angry.” Hide added.

They decided to go to the back room to see what was up. I had a gut feeling that this wasn’t going to end well, but I went with them. I mean, I didn’t have anywhere else to go. When Hide opened the door, we were greeted by Yoshiki, who was sitting in a metal folding chair facing the door. His arms were crossed and his left foot was tapping the ground impatiently. The look on his face was one of tranquil fury.

“Hey, Yocchan. Everything alright?” Hide asked. 

“No. Everything’s not alright.” Yoshiki answered.

He stood up up, taking another drag of his cigarette. 

“I wanted to rehearse one of the piano sections for ‘Art of Life’, but, when I came back from lunch, the entire piano score was gone. It wasn’t on the piano where I left it.” he said.

Shit. That was bad. Like, really, really bad. They were supposed to perform ‘Art of Life’ at this live. 

“Where else do you think it could be?” Hide asked.

Yoshiki took another puff.

“I’ve looked everywhere that I could have possibly left it.” he answered.

“Did you check your car?”

“Yes.”

“Front and back seats? Under the seats?”

“Yes.”

“In the trunk?”

“Yes.”

“On the stage by your drums?”

“Yes.”

“On the floor by the piano?”

“Yes.”

They kept going back and forth like this for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, I was thinking of places that it could have possibly ended up. Then it hit me.

“Hey, Yoshiki, what about the piano bench?” I asked.

He and Hide stopped their little back and forth and they both looked at me. Yoshiki raised an eyebrow, clearly not impressed.

“What makes you think it’ll be in there?” he questioned.

I shrugged.

“Don’t people usually keep sheet music in the piano bench?”

He opened his mouth to respond, but after thinking it over for a second he shut it and leaned back in the chair. A couple of painfully silent minutes passed. Yoshiki seemed to be thinking over the places that he had previously checked.

“Did you check the piano bench, Yocchan?” Hide asked.

Another pause.

“...No. I didn’t.”

Hide pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly.

I turned to Heath and asked, in a low voice, “Does this happen a lot?”

“More than you think.” he answered.

Yoshiki and Hide argued with each other for a few more minutes, with Heath and myself as unwilling spectators. Hide didn’t seem mad. More exasperated than anything else. Honestly, it sounded like an argument between me and my mom. Which is why I needed to stop this before it got any worse.

“Umm...shouldn’t we go look for the sheet music?”

Both of them stopped and looked at me, which made me very uncomfortable. I elbowed Heath in the side, trying to make him say something because this situation was getting more awkward by the second. Thankfully, he got the message.

“Yeah, we’ll go look for it. No big deal.” he said.

We got out of there as fast as we could and shut the door. We both sighed heavily.

“Man...glad we got out of there when we did.” I said.

“Yeah. That was about to get ugly.” Heath replied.

“What’s up with those two anyway?”

Heath shrugged.

“I dunno. It was like that when I joined. Although, it did escalate after Hide started working on his solo stuff. They got into a fight a couple of months ago and I heard Yoshiki accuse Hide of not taking X seriously anymore.”

“Wait, really?”

“Mhm. Instruments ended up being thrown and they didn’t speak to each other for a couple of days.”

“Talk about belligerent sexual tension.” I muttered.

“What was that?”

I shook my head.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

We headed back to the stage to start looking for Yoshiki’s missing sheet music. I was damn sure that he had left it in the piano bench and forgot about it. It had to be there. Where else could it have been?

I opened the piano bench and started rifling through papers. There was a lot more in there than I had assumed.

“Let’s see here. ‘Endless Rain’, ‘Say Anything’, ‘Un-Finished’...A-ha! ‘Art of Life’! Found it!”

“What did you find?”

I looked up and saw Toshi walking up from the other side of the stage. He must have just gotten back from lunch.

Heath answered his question before I had a chance to.

“Yoshiki misplaced the sheet music for ‘Art of Life’ and we went looking for it while he was arguing with Hide.” he explained.

“They’re arguing again?” Toshi didn’t sound surprised.

“Yeah. I’m really starting to worry about those two. They’ve been fighting a lot lately.” 

Toshi sighed.

“Well, hopefully this will all blow over after these shows. I think all the stress is taking its toll on Yoshiki.”

We all went silent as we heard footsteps coming up the backstage stairs. Yoshiki and Hide came onto the stage and looked at the four of us curiously. There was an awkward silence between us before Yoshiki turned to me.

“So, did you find it?” he asked.

He clearly doubted my theory. 

“I sure did.” I replied.

I hopped down from the platform and trotted over to him, grinning.

“It was exactly where I thought it was.” I said as I handed him the papers.

Yoshiki took the papers and he studied them for a moment before looking back at me. He seemed suspicious about something.

“Something wrong?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“No. Nothing at all.” he answered.

He brushed past me and walked over to the piano where he set the papers on the music stand. I was suspicious too, but I wasn’t gonna question him.

I went back to my chair and watched them rehearse until it was very late in the evening. Something was eating at me the whole time and I couldn’t relax. What was with that look he gave me? And why did I sense so much tension? It was really bothering me. 

Once everything had finished and all the equipment had been packed away for the night, we split into two groups and went our separate ways for the night. Yoshiki and Toshi went off somewhere together and Hide, Pata, Heath and myself went drinking elsewhere. Even then, I still couldn’t relax. I spent the entire time staring at my drink and picking at my food while trying to figure it all out. 

I didn’t say anything on the way back to Hide’s apartment, which apparently worried him as he asked me about it when we got back.

“Hey, you feelin’ alright? You haven’t said a word all night.” he questioned.

“I’m fine.” I answered as I collapsed onto the couch. I was very tired and sore from walking so far.

Hide grabbed a couple of drinks from the fridge and sat down beside me, handing me one of the cans. I thought ‘why not? I’m not at home’ and took it. I took a drink and grimaced. That was definitely not the best tasting drink, but I was going to drink it.

A few minutes passed before Hide started asking me more questions.

“Did Yoshiki say something to you?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“He didn’t say anything. He just looked at me weird. I think I made him mad.” 

Hide chugged the rest of his beer and leaned back.

“He’s been frustrated for awhile. Don’t worry about it; it’s nothing you did.”

“You sure?”

He nodded.

“Yeah, I’m sure. He’s stressed right now. But I’m sure he’ll be better after the shows.”

We didn’t discuss it any further, but it still weighed heavy on my mind. Something just wasn’t right, but I thought sleeping it off would be a good idea.

I excused myself and went to take a shower. When I came back, Hide was watching a movie; ‘Suspiria’ apparently. I settled in and asked him what I had missed. He filled me in on what happened and we continued to watch the movie. I started dozing off about halfway through and finally passed out near the end of the movie.

I didn’t sleep well; I tossed and turned through the night because my mind was running a mile a minute. When morning came, I was exhausted. But I had to get up and get moving.

It was just another day.

Well…I thought it would be.


End file.
